The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is in the midst of an unusual deployment – currently operating in the North Sea, in Act II of its deployment that had a working port visit intermission – but the strike group commander said the deployment has allowed his sailors to focus on high-end warfare and train in ranges not usually available to them. Read More →

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The optimism for peace at the end of the Cold War has proven to be a mistake as Russia used the lull in Western defense attention to occupy Crimea and aggressively support separatists in Ukraine and insert itself in the Syrian civil war, three chiefs of European navies agreed on Monday. Read More →

While Russian submarine activity in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas and the North Atlantic are at their highest levels since the end of the Cold War, its navy has only started to be resourced and its undersea fleet, while “a pocket of competence,” remains small. Read More →

An international Corps of Marines from Sweden, Finland, and the U.K. conduct amphibious assaults on a beachhead in Ravlunda, Sweden, for local media outlets during BALTOPS 2015. US Marine Corps photo.

The following is a Statement of Intent signed today by the Secretary of Defense of the United States and the Minister for Defence of Sweden. The two countries intend to increase military cooperation, enhance interoperability and work together to improve defense capabilities. Read More →

Allied forces practice amphibious assault near Ustka, northern Poland, on 17 June 2015 as part of BALTOPS 2015. NATO Photo

Summer is exercise season in the Baltic Sea region, and one of the largest ones is BALTOPS 16, which runs between June 3 and June 18, and ranges across a considerable portion of the Baltic Sea. Read More →

Amphibious assault ships participating in exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2015 transit in formation off the coast of Sweden on June 12, 2015. US Navy Photo

NATO may be best known for its protracted counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan, or for its current efforts to shore up defenses in Eastern Europe with air and ground exercises. But moving forward NATO must also consider its role in the global maritime domain, as it is central to the twin security challenges of an increasingly aggressive Russia and a crumbling Middle East order that the Alliance faces right now. Read More →

The Finnish Navy dropped low yield depth charges near the capital of Helsinki following sightings of an object that could be a submarine that may have violated Finland’s territorial waters, according to local press reports. Read More →